>Threading the Needle at Rolex Miami OCR 2012

>Hello OCR fans. The world of Olympic Sailing has descended upon Miami Florida and Biscayne Bay for the 2012 edition of the Rolex Miami, the 23rd edition of the event. 529 sailors from 41 countries have hustled to Miami after the World Championships in Perth, Austalia in December. It’s going to be a great event, and especially in the paralympic classes where the USA will be using this event as the second and final event for Games selection. By the end of the day on Friday, we will know who the six sailors are who will represent the USA at the Paralympic Games later this year.

Last night’s opening ceremony was held on he lawn at Coral Reef YC and it was the perfect “threading of the needle” from a scheduling perspective. Many of the people present were glued to the televisions in the bar, watching the conclusion of the Patriots-Ravens playoff football game. The opening was scheduled to start about 6:15, the game ended at 6:10, and the next game (Giants vs. 49ers) was scheduled to start at 6:30pm. God must either A) be tired of football or B) be a big time sailor and fan of RMOCR. The ending of the first game gave us the perfect little window to have a pleasant opening ceremony, enjoy some dinner and allow the football fans to get their fix.

It’s a beautiful day here in Miami. The sun is shining, the wind is blowing and all racing should start on schedule. We’ll be tweeting from all over Biscayne Bay, all of it brought together through our Cover It Live Feed which you can find on the event website at http://rmocr.ussailing.org/multimedia/live/.

It’s a big week for a lot of reasons. It’s the second event on the Sailing World Cup. We’ll have Games selection in many classes for many countries. Funding and bonuses are always available. And, of course, the Olympic Games in London begin in 186 days and the Paralympic Games in 219 days from today. Each day we get closer to what these four years have really been about.

It’s going to be a great day here in Miami. I hope you’ll follow along.